The Turk's Virgin
by RultaProductions
Summary: Not many women could hold his interest for very long. Except Yuffie. He's given this beautiful, independant woman all luxuary there is in the world - and even more. But still, she stubbornly refuses to accept his hand in marriage! AUish. Tseffie.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Force a woman to marriage?

Take her away from her home, across the ocean, and keep her isolated until she submit to her father's will and married a man twenty years her senior?

Tseng Yamaoka had heard worse.

With narrowing eyes, he emptied his martini and put the glass aside. He was in Midgar to celebrate the latest success in his work. The other company had opposed the purchase, but Tseng the Turk had been determined.

Tseng the Turk always got his way.

He felt the predatory instincts in his very soul. Just like the undomesticated hawk, Tseng was ready to hunt.

Ready to strike down on his prey.

There were worse things than to force a young woman into marriage.

Betrayal. Attempts of murder. A conspiracy with the goal to murder Tseng's boss, President ShinRa, and all men close to him.

Tseng Yamaoka grind his teeth in cold fury. No one would touch his family. No one would lay a hand on Rufus, or his kin. _No one_. Not even Godo Kisaragi, Rufus' closest connection outside the company.

Tseng happened to know that Godo planned to strengthen his power by marrying his daughter to the radical fundamentalist Don Corneo, Rufus' worst critic.

Godo was dangerous due to his weakness. Corneo was dangerous because he was violent. Together, they had the power to annihilate the ShinRa Company. But the straightforward Rufus refused to cut all contact with Godo, and therefore lose a valuable client.

Tseng gripped the martini-glass firmly. The marriage between Yuffie Kisaragi and Don Corneo had to be stopped. It was an alliance that would give Corneo access to the ShinRa faculty, and endanger the whole Shinra family.

That was why Tseng had tried to stop the wedding.

But someone had made a mistake. If the situation had been handled properly, the problem would've been solved by now. Instead, Yuffie was to be flown to Wutai and her awaiting husband as soon as tomorrow night.

Unless Tseng did something about it - personally. And considering the circumstances, it was exactly what he was planning to do…


	2. Plague or Cholera?

**AN; A new story by moi. Set in an Alternate Universe, but not quite. Please let me know if you see any major grammatical errors so I can fix them... If anyone can consider themselves BETAing this story, I'd appreciate it. ****And no flames, please.**

**Rating;**** T. Rating may change.  
**

**Disclaimer;**** Whatever you recognize does not belong to me...**

* * *

**1**

She wished there was a way to correct all mistakes.

She would want to go back to that fateful moment when everything went wrong. That night. The party. The week she'd turned sixteen.

If she had never revolted against her father's will…

If she had never snuck out…

If she'd never had gone where good wutaian girls shouldn't go…

But that was years ago, and now Yuffie Kisaragi's fingers were cold as ice as they squeezed around the telephone.

"I can't marry him, father. It's impossible."

Godo Kisaragi inhaled impatiently. "The only thing impossible is that you are still unmarried at the age of twenty-three! You put a shame to our family."

In Wutai, women married early to keep their honour from harm. But Yuffie had never been very Wutaian. And even though she had grown up in Edge with her liberal, intellectual mother, she'd never really belonged there either.

"He is a prominent man, Yuffie. Powerful, influential…"

"I don't care."

Silence. "Yuffie, you have to understand that this is important for us all. You have to get married. Don Corneo has chosen you. You should feel flattered."

Her father wouldn't listen to her. According to her mother, her father rarely listened to anyone –especially not a woman – and that had been the reason her mother had left him when Yuffie was still a child.

Yuffie massaged her temples with her fingertips. She liked her father, but he had no idea how western she'd become. She was far from the obscured life in Wutai, a small kingdom in the east with extensive provinces and a beautiful capital.

"I live in Midgar, father. I have my work and my friends here."

"But no husband."

"I don't want a husband." Yuffie's voice hardened. "I just finished my education and started on my carrier."

"Carrier?"

"Yeah, I want a carrier. I'm smart and…"

"This is your mother's work! I should never have allowed her to take you with her. You should have stayed with me. She was inappropriate as a parent.

Anger boiled within Yuffie, but she had had enough taking sides in her parents' private war.

"Marriage is an honour," her father continued. "A good marriage would be glorious for all of us."

'_Not for me'_ she thought heatedly while old memories welled up inside her. "I don't want to get married," she repeated in a choked voice. "I've never wanted it."

"But I do. You're my only child, my future."

"No."

Rage and irritation mixed together in her father's voice. "Don't disgrace me, Yuffie Kisaragi. Don't you put shame on this family."

The warning was clear, but Yuffie couldn't allow herself to surrender to her father's frustration. She could never be what he wanted her to be.

She could only be herself, and what Yuffie had become was unacceptable in Wutai. But her father knew nothing of that. He would never know.

Yuffie glanced down at her watch and realized she had to get moving if she didn't want to get caught in the traffic jam. "I have to go. I'll be late for work."

"Work? What kind of work do you have on a Sunday morning?"

That was another thing her father didn't know about. He really had no idea who she was.

"I dance."

Godo's silence of deprecation was significant. He had never approved to his daughter dancing ballet, and when she had reached puberty had his dissatisfaction with her increased. When Yuffie was twelve had he forced her to quit her lessons, and when he one year later discovered that his daughter danced in a Christmas-production of the Nutcracker, he'd threatened to take her back to Wutai for good.

_His daughter_ would not show herself in tricots.

_His daughter_ would not be touched by a member of the opposite sex, not even a dance-partner.

And Yuffie's defiant, brave mother had yielded. She was the one who'd persuaded her to stop dancing. _"You shouldn't tease your father's patience, Yuffie. He's not like us. If he gets provoked enough, he can do just about anything…"_

So after eight years of daily practice, Yuffie had been forced to give up her beloved ballet.

"I thought you had stopped with such nonsense."

"I did," Yuffie answered silently. To stop dancing had crushed her heart. Yuffie's wants and needs had never been important in her parents' fights. Their decisions were completely egoistical.

"I really have to go, " she continued. Her father couldn't make her change her mind. She'd found her freedom in Midgar, and was never going to return to Wutai.

Wutai was a beautiful country, and the cultural mixture of native wutaians and immigrants had created a fascinating community. But the women were still overprotected and isolated, and Yuffie had spent too much time amongst modern ethical standards, that it would be impossible for her to live her life there again.

"Yuffie, you can not ignore your duty."

The cultural differences stood like an invincible wall between them.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in arranged marriages."

After a long moment of utter silence did Godo Kisaragi finally speak up. "Twenty-four hours, Yuffie. That's all."

"No."

"This is not a request. I have made my decision. If you don't return to Wutai within twenty-four hours, I will send someone to come and get you."

Then he hung up.

Yuffie stared at the phone. He couldn't be serious. To force her into coming back…

Mutely, she gathered her belongings and seated herself inside the car. The hands on the wheel shivered as she drove through the heavy traffic. Marry someone she didn't even know? Marry a wutaian man only because her father wanted it?

With one eye on the traffic, Yuffie dialled her father's number on her cell.

"You can't be serious, " she exclaimed as soon as he answered. "How can you threaten with something like that? I have never lived in Wutai. I haven't been there for years…"

"But you are still wutaian, whether you admit it or not. I have let you finish your studies, but now it's time for you to come home."

"Wutai's not my home!"

"You were born in the Pagoda. You spent your childhood here."

"Until I was four!"

Yuffie may have been born in the capitol of Wutai, with its small buildings and twisting alleys. But she had been brought up in Midgar. She'd only visited her father once a year.

During her childhood, Yuffie had dreaded her travels to Wutai during her summer holidays. Every year meant less liberties and a more narrowed circle of friends. Her father had been determined to shape her into the perfect wutaian woman – beautiful, talented, _quiet_.

"I'll never go back," she said slowly in midgarian, but continued in wutaian. "I'd rather die that return to Wutai."

When her father finally answered her, his voice had hardened and was as cold as ice. "Be careful what you wish for."

Then he hung up.

Again.

* * *

Godo Kisaragi wouldn't appreciate his daughter's leisure pursuit.

Tseng saw how the line of beautiful young women ran through the tunnel, out onto the sunny football-field in time for the entertainment during the game-break. They danced together, dressed in their short shorts and knee high boots. High kicks and wriggling hips.

His gaze fell on the woman with the short black hair in the back row. Yuffie Kisaragi. Godo's daughter.

He pursued his lips. Yuffie was not afraid of dying. Godo had been upset when his daughter had moved to Midgar. What would he do if he found out she displayed herself in front of sixty thousand people?

Indeed. Yuffie Kisaragi was in trouble.

* * *

It didn't matter if that it was late September. Yuffie was sweating. While she kicked and twisted under the burning sun, her nausea increased by the minute.

But it wasn't the sunlight that made her want to throw up.

It was the horrid realization that she didn't _know_ her own father. If he put his threats to work, she'd have nowhere to hide. Her father had too much money, and too much influence. He had connections everywhere. If he wanted Yuffie home, he'd make sure he got what he wanted.

She has trouble breathing. She tried to concentrate on her dancing, but her father's ominous voice haunted her. The burning rays of the sun made her head throb, and she felt bizarrely secluded from her dancing, swaying body.

Lifting her face towards the sun, she fought to clear her mind from the horrible knowledge that hammered in her head.

Things would happen.

Really, really scary things.

* * *

Several hours after the game had ended, Yuffie leaned against the balcony parapet of a sumptuous apartment with a glass of wine in her hand. She wasn't really in the mood for partying tonight, but the owner of the team said he'd invited an important guest, and requested her presence.

Said owner – who was the one to pay her salary - hardly ever asked her of anything, so Yuffie had reluctantly dressed up and arrived to the party.

Now she blessed the dark balcony and did her best to relax. But her father's threat overshadowed all her thoughts. He had sworn to bring her home, and force her into marriage.

What was she going to do? Who could help her?

Godo had a personal relationship to almost every powerful man in the world, and his fortune only increased his own power. He struck terror into those who provoked him.

So who would be so insane that they risked their lives to help Godo Kisaragi's daughter?

Yuffie frowned. Her headache was getting worse. It had been a long day, and now she was trapped on the balcony while loud music roared from the stereo equipment inside, where beautiful women laughed and flirted with loaded men.

She shouldn't have come. The music was too loud, the people too different, and the night was too warm.

Panic worked its way up within her. She squeezed her glass and took a deep breath to calm herself down. _'Calm, just be calm. Nothing's gonna happen. Everything's okay.'_

Despite the many years that had passed, she still hated parties. The heat, noise and the merry atmosphere that came with too much alcohol still managed to make her edgy. It didn't matter how far you ran from the past, sooner or later, it always caught up.

"Don't jump," a cold and cynical male voice said behind her. The accent was unusual, refined midgarian, but still exotic.

The hair on Yuffie's neck raised, but she didn't turn around. "I don't intend to," she answered with the same calm tone and sipped her wine.

"Even though you are beyond saving?"

Yuffie brushed off the sudden flash of fear. "That's one conceited statement...!"

"Not if you know someone as well as I know you."

She really didn't like this man and his supercilious attitude, her instinct screamed to her that she should walk back in to the apartment, but she refused to give this man the satisfaction of watching her flee like a scared little mouse.

"I'd call your bluff," she threw out, stiffly. "But I'm not interested in continuing this conversation."

"Then I shall call yours, Lady Princess Yuffie Kisaragi."

Wutaian. Ancient, royal wutaian.

The man knew her father. He'd called her by her full name.

Slowly she forced herself to turn around, but the balcony was in complete darkness.

"Who are you?"

"A friend of the family."

She closed her eyes. It'd already been done. Her father hadn't waited for twenty-four hours before he sent someone to get her. He hadn't even waited eight…

She opened her eyes again to steadily meet his hidden gaze.

"What do you want?"

"I want to offer you an option."

Yuffie didn't trust men, especially not men from Wutai. "I don't get it."

"I think you do."

There was something familiar with his voice that caused every bundle of nerves in her body to shiver. "Step out of the dark," she demanded. "I want to look at you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to see the gutless son of a bitch who amuses himself by scaring a woman."

"Well then…" The man took a step closer to the light that streamed from the open doors.

"Better?" he wondered in a drawling voice.

Yuffie's eyes widened to the shape of saucers and shied away.

"Perhaps you preferred the shadows?" he asked as he slowly started to move towards her.

"Yeah. There you can get what you came here for."

"And what did I come here to do?"

"Force me back to Wutai."

"Ah."

In all his cold sternness, his voice was oddly seductive. It held an air of exotic spices and expensive habits.

He leaned onto the balcony parapet. In the enchanting moonlight, she could almost see the contours of his straight dark eyebrows, and the tall cheekbones' strong angularity seemed far too familiar. It was years ago since a face just like that had been a part of her most private fantasies…

She shut her eyes once again to fight back the painful memories. Her dreams had been crushed so cruelly.

Another breath and she opened them again. Though she didn't look at him, she was unpleasantly aware of his well-built body.

"My father didn't even wait for twenty-four hours," she complained. "He lied."

The stranger was silent for a moment, but Yuffie could sense his scornful smirk before he spoke. "I'm not sent here by the orders of your father."

She almost choked on her breath as relief blended with another, inexplicable fear. "Then who the hell are you?"

"You don't remember me?"

His tone was so soft that she felt as if cold hand squeezed her heart. She knew she'd recognized him right away, but hadn't believed it. She still couldn't believe it. Not after all these years…

"I am sure you do," he added.

Yuffie's blood froze in her veins. "Step into the light,"

"Now you're just ridiculous…"

But he lit a match-stick, and in the faint light of the flame, Yuffie stared at his face. Dark eyelashes framed eyes that glittered with a golden amber blaze.

The light died, and Yuffie looked away. She wanted to shake her head and free herself from the image that'd etched onto the insides if her eyelids.

Maybe it was possible for her to forget his facial structures, but she would always remember his golden stare. Eyes that never smiled, but saw straight into other people's hearts.

No one had eyes like that. No one but Tseng Yamaoka.

Yuffie's own, childish romance fantasy.

Tears she couldn't explain stung her eyes and her grip on her glass of wine threatened to shatter it to pieces. She had been so blindly in love with him. Such a silly crush…

"Tseng," she whispered under her breath, not daring to look at the man.

He nodded in his urbane manner and spoke the traditional wutaian greeting. "Leviathan be with you."

Wrong answer from the man that once'd been Mr. Right. She exhaled slowly. Tseng Yamaoka was here. The shock hit her with such a force that the world around her looked as if it crumbled.

She hadn't seen Tseng for years. Now he was here, but he weren't kindly disposed. That much she knew.

"You can't tell me my father didn't send you," she spat in anger. "You can't lie to me."

He only shrugged. "I can tell you the truth, but you decide for yourself it you wish to listen, and what you choose to believe."

"I want the truth."

"I know your father's plans."

The statement was so blunt that it left Yuffie dumbfounded for a moment, while her confusion amplified. Somehow, she knew this man was far more dangerous than her what her father planned.

"My father works with your boss."

"Your father only work for himself," Tseng replied with scorn.

Yuffie narrowed her stare. "You don't trust him."

"No." The Turk studied her attentively. "Do you?"

"He's my father."

"Youthful naivety."

"Naivety?"

"A more pleasant word for stupidity."

The fury rising within her still couldn't smother her fear. "I'm asking again. What do you want?"

"Offer you an option, like I said."

When Yuffie mutely stared at him as Tseng's mouth curved into a cruel leer. "You don't have to marry Don Corneo."

Something inside her clenched. _'No,'_ she thought bitterly. _You were the one I wanted to marry.'_ "And what's wrong with him?"

"He is old, fat and hairy."

"And?"

"All children from his first marriage are older than you."

She didn't answer.

"His fanaticism is notorious."

Her jaws tensed. It was obvious that Tseng amused himself at her expense. _'Bastard.'_

"Besides, his political ambitions are distrustful." The Turk waved ha hand suggestively. "But if all that sound attractive to you…"

Yuffie's gaze travelled across the flashing light of the city. "You know it doesn't…"

"You need my help."

"I don't want your help!" She didn't want _anything_ from any man. She had changed from the stupid, gullible little girl she'd once been.

"So you would rather put misery on yourself, than accept my help?"

"You don't know anything about me."

"I know that that beautiful face of yours will soon be hidden from the rest of the world, except for your husband, if you refuse to listen to me."

Yuffie couldn't bring herself to answer him. She couldn't bare the thought of the confined world Wutaian women lived in. She had finished her education with good grades and received a post at an international company with its seat in Midgar. She'd worked and travelled with a success better than expected.

How would she bear to lose her freedom? How could she ever go back to all that she'd run away from?

No. She would never comply to be hidden and oppressed as if she was someone to be ashamed of. "I haven't lived in Wutai since I was four," she informed the Turk.

"Your father has already sent his men to pick you up. Three men are waiting in your house right now." He silenced to let his words sink in. "They won't leave without you."

"Then I guess I'll crash somewhere else…"

"Your father have unlimited resources. No matter where you go, they will be waiting for you."

"No."

"You know it's true."

Tseng was right. And she hated him for it. Her father always got what he wanted.

"Take in the truth, Lady Kisaragi. It's me or them. Choose now. Plague or cholera..."

* * *

_**Now kindly press button below...**_

* * *


	3. Defiance of Authority

**2**

Plague or cholera?

The father or the Turk?

Yuffie groaned inside. "I'm not playing that game, Turkey."

"Maybe not, but your father is of a different opinion. Three men are waiting at your house. They have a car and a plane. And you will go straight into their trap."

"And why would I trust _you_?"

"Why would I lie?"

He sounded so damn reasonable, and she hated him for it! It'd been years since she'd lived in Wutai. She'd barely had any contact with her father for seven blissful years. So why decide to marry her off _now_?

And why would Godo's plans make Tseng Yakaoma seek her up?

'_It's either business or money, and I don't give a crap about either one!'_

"You've got other reasons than to help me out," she stated, and glanced towards the partying people inside the flat. Tseng of the Turks was one powerful man, and it was because of him that the team owner had asked her to show up.

"Yes."

"_You_ wanted me to come here tonight, didn't you?"

"You're the reason I am here, yes." He offered her his arm. "Now, shall we deal with the situation?"

The dim moonlight played over his face, and Yuffie suddenly felt like she was sixteen again. Sixteen, and hopelessly in love with a man ten years her senior, who came from a totally different world than hers.

"Situation?" she repeated with a questionable face.

"The men in your house…"

* * *

Tseng's car awaited them. The backseat was a complete darkness, the only light was offered by the hundreds of traffic lights that they sped by in a haze.

Yuffie made herself as small as possible on her seat and held on to the door-handle like there was no tomorrow. Tiny, dark spaces always made her skin crawl and she had to strain herself not to have a cold sweat breakout. She really, _really_ didn't like this! Being alone in a car, in the middle of the night, with a man she had hoped to forget, it wasn't even something her obnoxious youth had tempted fate with before the– …Never mind.

'_Nothing's gonna happen, Yuffie. Just getting yourself a ride home…'_

She shouldn't have left her car by the arena. If she'd taken her car, she would have felt safe, and not so motion sick… She wouldn't be seated so close to a man she didn't know anymore.

She'd never _known_ him, really. But she'd imagined. Fantasized…

A moment later, Tseng cranked down the car window. "We're close to your block now, right?"

"Yeah," she answered, following the edge of the glass with her fingertip. She loved her little house, loved owning something that was hers, just hers… and the cats'. It belonged to her, and no one could take it away from her!

Tseng slowed down and stopped in front of the house. "Your house."

"Yeah…" Her heart ached. Was this the end of her freedom? Slowly, she turned her head, fixating her gaze with his. "Say it again. Say you didn't come here because Godo told you to."

"I did not come because your father said so."

The derisive tone of his voice didn't escape her. His strength he radiated didn't escape her, either. It was no course strength, but a feeling of absolute power.

'_He should have been the ShinRa President__...' _That position would have suited him fine. If Rufus Shinra would have been killed in any of those assassination attacks everyone talked about, Tseng could have taken his place. He sure had an adequate resource of arrogance and self-confidence.

"But you _have_ talked to him?" Her stubbornness didn't allow her to lower her guard, but _damn_, it was hard when he looked at her in the distracting way he did!

"No." Thin lines wrinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes. "Your father and I don't really harbour any warm feelings for each other. He had to tolerate me since I work for Rufus, but I've never accepted him. He knows that." Suddenly, his mouth formed into a firm line of determination. "I am here now, because your father _wouldn't_ like it."

His words met with silence, but there was no calm, nor any sense of tranquillity. The air crackled with tension, just like the sky always does before a storm.

Being so close to Tseng made Yuffie's head spin, her whole body sang. With some effort, she pushed the confusing feelings aside and concentrated to keep her anger floating. "You told me to choose."

"Yes."

"You said it's you or them…"

"I did."

"And why's that the only choices I get?"

After a moment's hesitation, Tseng shrugged his shoulders. "No one else would dare to stand up against your father. Who would turn the world upside down to stop this wedding from taking place?"

That wasn't a good enough reason for her. His explanation left something missing, just one tiny detail that no one else cared to admit. _Her_. "I don't want a man," she snapped. "And I sure as hell don't _need_ one!"

"Want and need are two very different things. You may not want me, Princess Kisaragi, but you need me." A short pause added even more weight to his words. "There are worse things than accepting my protection…"

"Like marrying Don Corneo?" A bitter laugh bubbled inside her, and her face held no trace of the usual cheerfulness. "I think I'll handle this on my own, thank you very much," she continued and reached for the door handle. "Open the door, I'm off!"

All doors unlocked with a click. "And you're aware of the men waiting for you inside?" Tseng asked calmly.

He'd said they were three. Yuffie glanced towards her house, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Her hall-lamp was lit, like always. "I don't see anyone…"

"They hardly put up a Welcome Home-sign, _Ae-in_."

_Ae-in_. Love. My love. The Wutaian word was like the caress of warm, soft sand. No one had ever called her _Ae-in_ before…

"I'll remember that." She stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind her. "Thanks for the ride, Tseng of the Turks!"

His door opened immediately. "You need my help."

"No, but I _do_ need my car. So if you're so obsessed with helping me out, you can make sure it's outside my door by tomorrow morning. It's kinda hard getting to work without it…"

Tseng let out a soft chuckle as he approached Yuffie, not allowing her to back away from him. "Do you really think you'll go to work tomorrow?"

Danger filled his deep voice, a warning Yuffie couldn't ignore. She halted and raised her eyes to meet his. They wore a mask of menace, but she saw more than that.

Knowledge.

Cynicism.

Disbelief.

Despite his custom-made suit and the expensive shoes, Wutai was buried in his very soul. He was more Wutaian than western. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter where he came from, or who he was, he was still a Turk.

He represented all the things that Yuffie didn't understand. She turned her back on him and took a few panicky steps towards the house. As she started to run up the stairs to her porch, she had no time to react when her front door opened and two strong arms wrapped around her lithe form.

She was trapped and darkness surrounded her. The old fear came back, and then, everything grew still.

Helplessly, she turned her head to the driveway and saw Tseng. If someone had helped her then, if someone had interfered. If someone…_anyone_…

'_Oh, shut up, Yuffie! You're not sixteen anymore, you're a grown woman. Fight back!'_

Finally, the paralysis of her vocal cord released her from its firm grip and she could yell. This time, she wouldn't fade away. This time, she wouldn't lose herself again.

The fear transformed into a wild rage. She kicked and punched. Her body came to life and fought back. She even landed a few good blows.

"Put me down! I'm not coming with you, you fucking bastard!"

She kept on fighting, but she knew she was outnumbered. The whole situation grew more and more desperate…

The Turk could help her. He'd said he'd help her!

But the he just stood by the side. Watching.

All she could think of was that she didn't want to be forced back to Wutai, and in her moment of despair, she could look past the fact that he was a _Turk_, that he was _Wutaian_, that he was a _man_, and that she _hated_ him with all her heart, because damn it, he was _right_, and she _needed_ him! "Tseng. Tseng, help me!"

And that was all it took…

"Let her go." His cold rage cut through the dark like a knife and the man holding her stiffened.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but– "

"Release her," Tseng ordered in Wutaian. It was an order and he expected it to be complied.

"But, Sir, we've been sent to take her back."

Tseng moved towards them with the predatory grace of a panther. "You dare lay a hand on my woman?"

"_Your_ woman?" the man holding Yuffie reiterated.

"_My_ woman." The Turk's voice was as ominous as a thunderstorm.

The grip around Yuffie loosened and her feet touched ground again. As soon as she was free, she placed herself by Tseng's side.

Tseng reached out his arm, but he didn't touch her. "Lady Kisaragi stands under _my_ protection."

"But we were sent her to get her." Another man appeared at the door. The third still waited inside. "Lord Kisaragi was very resolute."

"Allow me to be just as definite," the Turk answered with feigned courtesy. "She's mine."

The look of possessiveness he gave Yuffie made a bolt of heat and fear sear through her. "Yuffie Kisaragi is my woman," he added. "She belongs to me."

And like a flick of a wand, the strangers disappeared from her sight. But it was hardly any magic involved, she knew that much. It was authority. And Tseng Yakaoma had far too much of where that came from…

They listened to the men's car roaring off and Yuffie turned to face her saviour. None of them spoke up, but Yuffie could sense the fury burning inside of him.

"So it starts…" he finally muttered.

She wished she'd been too naïve to understand what he'd meant, but she knew. What'd just happened on her porch was huge.

Tseng of the Turks had just challenged her father. Tseng of the Turks had placed himself over her father's authority. And Tseng of the Turks could actually do such a thing, since he was so close to the ShinRa chairman.

Godo would be enraged. Infuriated and humiliated.

Yuffie smacked her head in self-reproach. She'd just denied her father and accepted the protection of Tseng Yakaoma. In the matter of minutes, she'd changed the lives of everyone.

"I've got to call him…"

"He's surely already been informed."

She shook her head. "I should at least _try_ to explain…"

Tseng closed the distance between them with a single step and gazed down at her until she finally looked away.

"He's still my father," she tried to defend herself.

"And what would you achieve by talking to him?"

She couldn't answer him. He cupped his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him. "What do you think you can achieve?" he repeated impatiently. "If your father held any interest to your opinion, he would have listened to you long ago."

Loathing the truth in his words, she tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. "Your father planned to use you as a piece in his political game," he added relentlessly, sharpness in his voice. "To him, you're just an asset to bargain with."

Every word stung. "But you're just the same, aren't you, Turkey?" Her low voice slowly transformed into a shout. "You're using me too! All you want is revenge on my father. At least _he_'s man enough to admit it!"

Tseng inhaled sharply at her insult. His touch changed, fingers spread across her cheek, hastily caressing her cheekbone. "You lack a Wutaian woman's good judgement and upbringing," he mumbled while his thumb slowly swept over her chin.

Her skin burned with his touch. "I'm not Wutaian!"

"Yet, I suspect you need a Wutaian husband. Someone to teach you _humility_ and _self-control_."

Anger flashed across her eyes and she gritted her teeth. "Sorry to disappoint you, Turkey, but some things can't be taught."

"You're wrong, _Ae-in_. Anything can be taught. All it requires is the right teacher." Obscure feelings darkened his eyes. "And you need a very patient one…"

Heat rushed through her veins with a force that almost knocked her over. Tseng made her feel… He made her feel _way_ too much.

"I don't want a man," She felt wild, desperate… Her feelings for Tseng had been so strong, and then all the bad stuff had happened and Yuffie's world had crumbled around her. "I've never wanted one, either."

"You will, when you meet the right one."

"Mr. Right doesn't exist…"

He stared at her for a long time. "He did. Once…" His voice indicated a secret intimacy between them and Yuffie stiffened her shoulders in denial.

"_Never_."

"Yes. Many, many years ago."

'_He's bluffing! He doesn't know anything about _anything_!'_

His thumb returned to her cheek. "There's always a special man that can turn a girl into a woman…"

She broke free from his grip, away from the imaginary net he spun around them. How the hell did this happen? How could _she_ have _let_ it happen? She fled into her house, away from him and the confusion he caused her, but Tseng was right behind her, and she heard him lock the door with a click. They were alone…

It felt… weird.

Nerves tense, Yuffie held her breath and waited.

"Pack a bag," Tseng ordered. His broad-shouldered, dark presence seemed strangely out of place in her small, brightly coloured house. "We must leave."

Pack. Leave. "I can't leave. I have my work here!"

"You chose me, didn't you?"

His soft question silenced her. Really, what could she say? The whole situation was completely unreasonable, and for once, she couldn't handle it. She could take on any other challenge life threw at her, but this… This was all of the sudden totally out of her league…

Ten minutes later, she _did_ walk out to the hall, packed and ready, and Tseng nodded his approval to her little suitcase. "Good. Let's go."

* * *

Yuffie sat in the back seat, as far from Tseng as possible, and stared out the window. No one said anything, but it was obvious the driver knew their destination.

"Where are we going?"

"Nibelheim."

"Nibelheim?"

"That big city across the continent."

Years before, Yuffie had thought she loved Tseng Yakaoma. He'd occupied all her thoughts and dominated her dreams. Now, she couldn't stop scolding herself for wasting so much of her time for his sake. "You're not funny."

"Is there any man who is funny to you?"

When she didn't answer him, he laughed quietly. There was no gentleness in his voice, though. "You're one of those man-haters, aren't you?"

"I didn't know we were of a different race, Turkey."

He laughed again, colder. "It will be interesting protecting you…"

"I've changed my mind."

"Too late. You're in my car. Under my protection."

"Stop the car!"

"And soon, you'll be onboard my plane."

"No, I won't–"

"Yes, Yuffie Kisaragi. You can't stop the course of events you've started. It's begun. We–"

"No! I didn't know what I was doing! I wasn't thinking–"

"You knew it was between me and them, and you chose me."

'_Take on another approach, Yuffie, there's got to be some way to reach him!'_

"Look. I appreciate your concerns, Turkey, but I'm almost twenty-four years old. I've got a job here in Midgar, and cats, so a trip to Nibelheim is totally out of the question!"

Kalen didn't answer.

The car accelerated on the highway and Yuffie could feel her independence slip through her fingers like sand.

"You're almost as western as I am, Turkey," she reasoned. "You've lived in Nibelheim for, what, fifteen years? You'd really treat a woman from Nibelheim the way you're treating me?"

"Yes, if she gave me a promise."

"I didn't promise you _anything_!"

"You said my name. You begged for my help, and I took you under my wings."

"I'm a grown woman, Tseng–"

"See? 'Tseng'. You called for me outside your house. You used my first name, just like you did now, 'Help me, Tseng'." The Turk's golden eyes narrowed and his sharp gaze bored into hers. "If you are a grown woman, Yuffie Kisaragi, you shouldn't play the games of a child."

"This isn't a game to me!"

"Good."

Tseng leaned back, as if their discussion was finished, but Yuffie had more to say…

"I _have_ grown up," she exclaimed. "I don't need to be taken care of by a _man_."

That made him react. "'By a man'," he repeated lowly. "What happened that made you throw away your faith in the male species, Ms. Kisaragi?"

She forced herself to look him in the eyes. "Nothing happened," she replied shortly.

"Interesting."

Tseng's firm lips quirked slightly. His mouth was sensual and when it broke out into a smile, it was as if he knew all the secrets of seducing a woman…

"Surprisingly, there are good men in this world, too," he added.

The smile scared her in a sense. Tseng had just faced up to her father, and now, he challenged _her_.

He was the type of man who enjoyed power and control, and the mile-wide difference between them worried her.

It didn't matter that he lived in Nibelheim, or that he dressed himself in expensive clothes. He was still a Wutaian man. And not just any Wutaian man, but one of the world's richest and influential, too…

"I'm just trying to be practical, Turkey."

"_Practical_?"

"I have to show my father my independence, and that I won't marry someone just because he wants me to."

"Your father doesn't care about that."

"Neither do you!"

Her sudden outburst made Tseng snicker. "So much fire, _Ae-in_, so much defiance… But unlike Godo, I could learn to like it..."


End file.
